Tuesday, May 29, 2012

I always seem to have a couple of overly brown bananas in the house. Probably since we refuse to eat a banana with a couple of brown spots on it; oh we are so spoiled. I hate to throw out perfectly good food so I end up making a lot of banana bread thus trying a lot of different recipes. Joy the Baker has a really good one for bourbon-spiked (I don't drink bourbon anymore due to a nauseating 21st birthday incident so I don't keep it in the house) but I did have Kahlua and I figured it would work just as well, and it did. Yay!

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and place a rack in the center of the oven. Place mini-muffin cups in a 24 min-muffin pan. You will have batter left over. I used a small baking loaf pan to use up the rest.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

3. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating for 1 minute between additions. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the bananas and Kahlua and beat with the paddle until well incorporated. The mixture may look curdled, but that’s okay.

4. Turn the mixer to low, add the flour mixture all at once, and beat until almost completely incorporated. Stop the mixer add the chocolate chips, and stir by hand with a spatula or wooden spoon just until incorporated. Spoon the mixture into the mini-muffin cups.

5. Bake until a toothpick inserted in one of the muffins comes out clean, approx 15 minutes. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 20 minutes before putting them onto a wire rack and letting it cool completely, if you can manage to keep your hands off them for that amount of time. Enjoy!

Monday, May 28, 2012

Saturday night, of our 3-day Memorial Day weekend, I broke out my new ice cream maker and declared I was making Blackberry Chip Ice Cream for dessert. I figured we'd eat a little in soft-serve form and then freeze the rest for later. I carefully followed all the steps in the recipe, which by the way- homemade ice cream is definitely a process, poured it all into the ice cream maker and hit the on switch. A few minutes in to the churning I had a "duh!" moment. The ice cream wasn't getting cold, wasn't thickening, basically wasn't doing what ice cream should do. I hadn't read the directions for the machine yet (oops) so I took them out and noticed the first step of FREEZING THE FREEZER TUB. "Duh!" 16 hours of freezing later and we finally had ice cream. Blackberry Chip Ice Cream to be exact.

Blackberry Chip Ice Cream
by Ree Drummond

2 pints fresh blackberries

1 1/4 cups sugar

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 1/2 cups half-and-half

5 egg yolks

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

4 ounces semisweet chocolate

Combine the blackberries, 1/4 cup of the sugar
and the lemon juice in a saucepan. Cook over low heat until the
blackberries are broken down and syrupy, about 20 minutes.

Pour the mixture into a bowl through a fine mesh strainer. Using a
whisk or spoon, force out as much of the deep purple liquid as you can,
and then set it aside to cool. Discard the blackberry pulp and seeds.

Heat the half-and-half and remaining 1 cup sugar in a saucepan over medium heat.

Using a whisk, beat the egg yolks until pale and thick. Temper the
eggs by splashing a small amount of the warm cream into the yolks,
whisking constantly. Pour the tempered yolks into the saucepan, stirring
gently. Cook over medium-low heat until thick, stirring constantly,
about 5 minutes.

Pour the heavy cream into the bowl with the berries, and then pour
in the custard and stir to combine. If you have time, refrigerate this
mixture until cool.

Freeze the mixture according to your ice cream maker's instructions.

When it is frozen, chop the chocolate into chunks and stir into the ice cream.

Transfer the ice cream to a freezer-safe container and allow it to harden for several hours or overnight.

Knock You Naked Brownies- just the name alone made me want to bake them. It's like the Is It Really Better Than Sex Cake- a conversation starter and a delicious dessert. Especially after your friends have had a couple cocktails and they're extra chatty.
Fudgy German chocolate cake with a caramel, pecan, chocolate chip filling. Be prepared, especially if you're serving to kids, these are a gooey sticky mess...and if you find trails of caramel on your kitchen counters in the morning, you know they were good enough for family members to sneak a midnight snack.

I left out the pecans since the BBQ they were for had people with nut allergies.

Knock You Naked Brownie- by Ree Drummond

Ingredients

1 box (18.5 Ounce) German Chocolate Cake Mix (I Used Duncan Hines)

1 cup Finely Chopped Pecans

1/3 cup Evaporated Milk

1/2 cup Evaporated Milk (additional)

1/2 cup Butter, Melted

60 whole Caramels, Unwrapped

1/3 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1/4 cup Powdered Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, chopped pecans, 1/3 cup
evaporated milk, and melted butter. Stir together until totally
combined. Mixture will be very thick.
Press half the mixture into a well-greased 9 x 9 inch square baking
pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and set aside.
In a double boiler (or a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of
boiling water) melt caramels with additional 1/2 cup evaporated milk.
When melted and combined, pour over brownie base. Sprinkle chocolate
chips as evenly as you can over the caramel.
Turn out remaining brownie dough on work surface. Use your hands to
press it into a large square a little smaller than the pan. Use a
spatula to remove it from the surface, then set it on top of the caramel
and chocolate chips.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool to room
temperature, then cover and refrigerate for several hours. When ready to
serve, generously sift powdered sugar over the surface of the brownies.
Cut into either nine or twelve helpings, and carefully remove from the
pan.
*Adapted from the classic "Knock You Naked Brownies" recipe, based on
a dessert at the Salt Creek Steakhouse in Breckenridge. These brownies
don't really knock you naked...but almost.

I now have some evaporated milk left that I don't know what to do with. Any ideas?

Friday, May 25, 2012

I've always considered sloppy joes to be kid food and since I don't have kids, I've never made it. Until now. My hubby gave me Pioneer Woman's latest cookbook for our anniversary and the sloppy joes recipe looked too good not to make right away. It was as good as I hoped it would be. My only regret is I halved the recipe since it's just the two of us and there was only a spoonful of leftovers.

I love love love dill pickles as you can see. Plus who doesn't love a good tater tot?

Sloppy Joes by Ree Drummond

Ingredients

■2 Tablespoons Butter

■2-1/2 pounds Ground Beef

■1/2 whole Large Onion, Diced

■1 whole Large Green Bell Pepper, Diced

■5 cloves Garlic, Minced

■1-1/2 cup Ketchup

■1 cup Water

■2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

■2 teaspoons Chili Powder (more To Taste)

■1 teaspoon Dry Mustard

■1/2 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes (more To Taste)

■Worcestershire Sauce, To Taste

■2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste (optional)

■Tabasco Sauce (optional; To Taste)

■Salt To Taste

■Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste

■Kaiser Rolls

■Butter

Preparation Instructions

Add butter to a large skillet or dutch oven over medium high heat. Add ground beef and cook until brown. Drain most of the fat and discard.
Add onions, green pepper, and garlic. Cook for a few minutes, or until vegetables begin to get soft.
Add ketchup, brown sugar, chili pepper, dry mustard, and water. Stir to combine and simmer for 15 minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste. Also add tomato paste, Worcestershire, and Tabasco if desired. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

And on to dessert, but first a note about the movie we watched while eating all this deliciousness.... Has anyone else seen Drive with Ryan Gosling? What did you think? It definitely wasn't what I was expecting. Way too brutal for me and he didn't take his shirt off once. *sigh*

This is one of the quickest dessert when you're craving something sweet but don't want to take the time to bake. All the ingredients are from Trader Joes- vanilla ice cream, a jar of peaches that I diced and graham crackers. I swear, they make the BEST graham crackers. You must try them.

It's Friday and the start of a 3-day weekend. Do you have any fun plans?

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

It's camping season, yay! We have a camping trip planned next month but I couldn't wait until then to have s'mores. They're one of my favorite camping treats. I like to roast my marshmallow until its completely charred on the outside and melty gooey on the inside. So as a compromise to building a fire in my backyard, possibly burning my house down or trying to use my hubby's bbq and irritating him with stickiness on his grill, I made s'more brownie bites. Yum!

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 24-count mini-muffin pan with paper liners.

Heat the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove the pan from the heat and add 3/4 cup of the mini chocolate chips. Stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Stir in the sugar, eggs and vanilla. Gradually beat in the flour until the mixture is thick and smooth. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips.

Using a small cookie scoop, fill each paper liner with about 2 heaping tablespoons of batter. Push 3 mini marshmallows halfway down into the center of the batter. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of the graham cracker crumbs over the marshmallows. Bake until the marshmallows are puffed and light golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool for 20 minutes and serve.

Do you like camping? Any suggestions on recipes I can make at the campsite or ahead to take with us? We'll be near the beach with our own grill. Can't wait.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Are you like me? A bread lover? As many benefits as I've heard for going gluten-free, I'm sorry, I just can't. Bread would be one of my desert island foods. Which leads me to my favorite salad....Panzanella. It's a bread salad, super simple, packed with yummy goodness and even makes good leftovers for lunch if you like dressing soaked bread, which I do.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Southern California never gets quite cold enough to actually pack away the grill but it's not as much fun using it when it's overcast and dreary. The sun has started to peek through and I'm taking full advantage of those warm moments. Especially since using the grill means less pots and pans to wash.

Do you see that little piece of steak in the middle? I spent 10 minutes searching for the perfect package of meat only to open it and find that little piece was not attached but by itself. What the heck? We'll call it the tasting bite.

We had rice and tortillas leftover from another night and since I try really hard not to throw anything out, I served it on the side. Do you eat leftovers or almost expired food in your house? Obviously if I find something in the fridge that looks ready to grow legs and walk out on its own I throw it out, but I've been know to eat yogurt or drink milk that's a day or two past expiration. Oh the horror.

My steak was a little on the rare side for me but my hubby likes his still mooing so it was a good compromise. How do you like your steak?

Monday, May 14, 2012

So I've read enough articles on the horrors of nitrates to ban them from my home. Trader Joes has definitely made this easier by selling nitrate/nitrite free hot dogs. Namely turkey dogs which are quite delicious although nothing truly compares with my favorite Hebrew National. I'm keep watching for them to release a nitrate free hotdog. Are you reading Hewbrew National?
One of my quick go-to dinners when I have no idea what to make is franks and beans over cornbread. I've started adding corn kernels to my cornbread to add a little extra nutrition. Just follow the recipe on the box and then add a half can of no-salt no-sugar added corn kernels that you've mashed up. You don't have to mash them but I do because I'm weird and don't like the liquid corn pop that I get when I bite into one.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Tomorrow is Mother's Day. Do you have any special plans? I'm hosting brunch and on the menu are these yummy Blueberry Lemon Scones.

The recipe is from Ina Garten. She usually makes them with dried cranberries and orange but I swapped those for dried blueberries and lemon. Delicious. I plan to serve them with lemon curd, whipped cream and sliced strawberries.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment,
mix 4 cups of flour, 1/4 cup sugar, the baking powder, salt and orange
zest. Add the cold butter and mix at the lowest speed until the butter
is the size of peas. Combine the eggs and heavy cream and, with the mixer on low speed, slowly pour into the flour and butter mixture. Mix until just blended. The dough will look lumpy! Combine the dried cranberries and 1/4 cup of flour, add to the dough, and mix on low speed until blended.
Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead it into a ball. Flour your hands and a rolling pin
and roll the dough 3/4-inch thick. You should see small bits of butter
in the dough. Keep moving the dough on the floured board so it doesn't
stick. Flour a 3-inch round plain or fluted cutter and cut circles of
dough. Place the scones on a baking pan lined with parchment paper.
Collect the scraps neatly, roll them out, and cut more circles.
Brush the tops of the scones with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar,
and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the
insides are fully baked. The scones will be firm to the touch. Allow the scones to cool for 15 minutes and then whisk together the confectioners' sugar and orange juice, and drizzle over the scones.

Friday, May 11, 2012

I can't, well I should say, I shouldn't eat a whole baked potato. The potato itself isn't the problem, it's the butter and sour cream that I fill it with that's the problem. So many calories all packed into a delicious potatoey package. So, what to do with the other half that's leftover? I store it in the fridge and save it for breakfast. No sense wasting something so yummy. Chop it up, fry in a little oil and butter, add salt and pepper and enjoy!

This is my hubby's favorite breakfast- cheesy grits, bacon, eggs, potatoes and scallions. I like to dump hot sauce all over mine. This keeps me full until dinner, but that might be because I'm usually not out of bed and making breakfast on Saturday until noon.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Who else loves Ree's show Pioneer Woman on the Foodnetwork? Everything she makes looks so amazing, although that could be because of all the butter. Which is fine because everything is better with butter. She made cherry almond crisp on a recent episode and on a whim while I was at Tader Joes I picked up the ingredients. TJs didn't have frozen cherries so I purchased the berry medley frozen mix. Also, I halved the recipe since it would just be my hubby and me having dessert that night. This keeps well in the fridge for leftovers though. I know since we've had it 3 nights in a row after dinner. Just reheat in the over (not the microwave or the topping will be soggy) at 350 deg.

I served it with vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients

■FOR THE CRUMB MIXTURE:

■1 cup All-purpose Flour

■1/2 cup Sugar

■1/2 cup Packed Brown Sugar

■1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

■1 dash Nutmeg, Double This Amount If Desired

■1/4 teaspoon Salt

■1-1/2 stick Cold (salted) Butter, Cut Into Pieces

■1/2 cup Slivered Almonds

■FOR THE CHERRIES:

■4 bags (12 Oz. Size) Frozen Tart Cherries

■1/2 cup White Sugar

■1/4 cup Cornstarch

■2 teaspoons Almond Extract

■FOR THE WHIPPED CREAM:

■2 cups Heavy Cream

■2 Tablespoons Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 F.

For the crumb mixture, in a medium bowl, combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

Cut the cold butter into pieces. Add the butter to the bowl and use a fork or pastry blender to cut it into the flour mixture until it resembles a coarse crumbs. Add the slivered almonds and stir them in.

Place the still-frozen cherries in a bowl, and add sugar, cornstarch and almond extract. Gently stir the cherries to combine.

Divide the cherry mixture between 8 ramekins (about ½ cup each). Top generously with the crumb mixture, evening out the surface.

Bake at 350 F for 45 minutes, or until the topping is crisp and golden brown. If the topping appears underdone, continue baking in 10 minute increments until it’s done.

Serve the crisps warm or room temperature with a dollop of freshly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Did you celebrate Cinco De Mayo yesterday with Mexican food and margaritas? I did, but instead of actual margaritas I made cookies. I'm not much of a tequila drinker so these were a good substitute. The recipes makes plenty to share and have some leftover to snack on the next day. Last year, I blogged about them and since then I've perfected the round shape with perfect amounts of sugar and salt long the rim. So delicious, I dare you to make them and have just one.

1. Put the butter in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle
attachment and beat at medium speed until it is smooth. Add the sifted
confectioners’ sugar and beat again until the mixture is smooth and
silky. Beat in 1 of the egg yolks, followed by the salt, tequila, grated
lime and orange zest. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour,
beating just until it disappears. It is better to underbeat than
overbeat at this point; if the flour isn’t fully incorporated, that’s
ok–just blend in whatever remaining flour needs blending with a rubber
spatula. Turn the dough out onto a counter, gather it into a ball, and
divide it in half. Wrap each piece of dough in plastic wrap and
refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

2. Working on a smooth surface, form each piece of dough into a log that
is about 1 to 1 1/4 inches (2.5 to 3.2 cm) thick. (Get the thickness
right, and the length you end up with will be fine.) Wrap the logs in
plastic and chill for 2 hours. (The dough can be wrapped airtight and
kept refrigerated for up to 3 days or stored in the freezer for up to 1
month.)

3. Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the
oven to 350°F (180°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

4. While the oven is preheating, work on the sugar coating: Whisk the
remaining egg yolk in a small bowl until it is smooth and liquid enough
to use as a glaze. Mix the coarse sugar and flaky salt well and spread
the mixture out on a piece of wax paper. Remove the logs of dough from
the refrigerator, unwrap them, and brush them lightly with a little egg
yolk. Roll the logs in the sugar, pressing the sugar/salt mixture gently
to get it to stick if necessary, then, using a sharp slender knife,
slice each log into cookies about 1/4 inch (7 mm) thick. [Deb note: To
get the sugar/salt mixture to stick better, I moved the log over to a
piece of plastic wrap, and in the sort of technique you'd see a sushi
chef use to shape a roll, use the plastic to press the sugar in by
wrapping it tightly.] (You can make the cookies thicker if you’d like;
just bake them longer.) Place the cookies on the lined baking sheets,
leaving about 1/2 inch (1.5 cm) space between them.

5. Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, or until they are set but not
browned. (It’s fine if the yolk-brushed edges brown a smidgen.) Transfer
the cookies to cooling racks to cool to room temperature.

Keeping: Packed airtight, the cookies will keep for about 5 days at room
temperature. Because the sugar coating will melt, these cookies are not
suitable for freezing.

* Updated to add that if you should choose to use regular table salt and
not Maldon, use less! Much less. Probably half or less. Because Maldon
has such volume, the equivalent amount of a finer salt would be much
more pungent. Better on the safe side than sorry, right?

Friday, May 4, 2012

So the only way I'd ever go back to making chocolate chips cookies without browing the butter is if I'm too lazy to turn on the stove. These are so so good. The nutty caramel taste the browned butter gives them is just addictive. I have a cookie with my lunch, a cookie as a snack, a cookie with my dinner and on and on. So not good for bathing suit season coming up. Oh well, that's what a cover-up is for.

The recipe is from Joy The Baker's cookbook. I found a similar one on her website, but I recommend you buy the book.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

April was a packed birthday month for me. I think I had six if not more birthdays to celebrate. Which is great since I love going to parties and of course eating cake. However, I'm always in a quandry about buying a gifts. Sometimes I know exactly the perfect thing and other times I wonder the store aimlessly and then settle on a giftcard. Do you have a go to gift when you're not sure what to buy?

One of my good friends had a backyard luau for her birthday and I was in charge of the dessert. I baked the most delicious Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes that I found on Baked Perfection.

If you decide to add slices of strawberries and lemons, make sure to dry them well and do not add them to the top until the very last minute.

Lemon Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream

recipe from Baked Perfection

makes 24-30 cupcakes

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

4 teaspoons grated lemon zest

4 tablespoons of lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups sour cream

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a separate mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla; mix well. Add the flour mixture to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream (batter will be thick). Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full with batter. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool completely.

Strawberry Buttercream
recipe from Baked Perfection

2 sticks butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup strawberry jam (I used a little more jam since I wanted it a little sweeter)

pinch of salt

6 cups powdered sugar

2-3 tablespoons milk

Beat butter and vanilla until creamy. Mix in strawberry jam and salt. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, beating until combined. Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach desired consistency.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

It's warm, beautiful outside and feeling like Spring. I love it. I can finally ditch the sweaters and wear short-sleeves. Tomatoes, strawberries and tons of herbs are back in the store. Basil seems to be everywhere and is so delicious in this Potato Basil Frittata. It's hearty enough to serve for dinner and makes enough to feed 6-8 hungry people.

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a 10-inch ovenproof omelet pan over medium-low heat. Add the potatoes and fry them until cooked through, turning often, about 10 to 15 minutes. Melt the remaining 5 tablespoons of butter in a small dish in the microwave.
Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, then stir in the ricotta, Gruyere, melted butter, salt, pepper, and basil. Sprinkle on the flour and baking powder and stir into the egg mixture.
Pour the egg mixture over the potatoes and place the pan in the center of the oven. Bake the frittata until it is browned and puffed, 50 minutes to 1 hour. It will be rounded and firm in the middle and a knife inserted in the frittata should come out clean. Serve hot.